THIS LAND WAS MADE
by Tori Sampson
Directed by Whitney White
With James T. Alfred, Lauren E. Banks, McKinley Belcher III, Jessica Frances Dukes, Sean Patrick Higgins, Julian Elijah Martinez, Jon Orsini, Carra Patterson, Namir Smallwood, Austin Smith
Liberation. Peace. Love. Self-Defense. Oakland in 1967 was a powder keg of social activism ready to boil over into radical action. For patrons of Miss Trish’s bar, it’s all just talking points — until the full, seductive and explosive force of the revolution walks through the door. Tori is a 2017-18 Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellow in Minneapolis and the Kennedy Center’s 2016 Paula Vogel Playwright. A recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama, THIS LAND WAS MADE marks her New York debut.
Special Panel Discussion
Saturday 3pm
with Hawk Newsome, president of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York
Throughout his life, Hawk has engaged in protests and activities to combat injustice. Over the past few years, he has worked tirelessly leading protests and seeking justice for the families of those slain by overzealous police officers. He is the founder of Black Lives Matter Greater NY, and has not only helped victims of police brutality, but works with members of LGBT community, victims of human trafficking, the mental health community, founded Black Lives Caucus, lectured students and expanded BLM Greater NY to multiple New York City charter schools.
What is a Developmental Lab?
Vineyard’s Developmental Labs allow a playwright and director to explore a work-in-progress on its feet, in collaboration with a full creative team and including staging and design elements.
Theatre Uncorked
Listen to Tori Sampson and Whitney White discuss their collaboration with The Vineyard and each other on THIS LAND WAS MADE.
This production is made possible with support from Time Warner and the Miranda Family Fund of the Hispanic Federation.
TOP PHOTO: Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellow Tori Sampson. Photo by HollenderX2.
Artists
Whitney White
Whitney White, Director, is an Obie-Award and Lily Award winning director, writer and musician originally from Chicago. She is a believer of alternative forms of performance, multi-disciplinary work and collaborative processes. Recent directing: The Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre DC), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theatre and Second Stage, NYT Critic’s Pick), Aleshea Harris’ What to Send Up When it Goes Down (The Movement Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth, American Repertory Theatre, The Public, NYT Critic’s Pick), An Iliad (Long Wharf), Canyon by Jonathan Caren (LA Times Critic’s Choice and recipient of the CTG Block Party Grant, IAMA), Jump by Charly Evon Simpson (National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, PlayMakers Rep). Digital projects include: Finish the Fight by Ming Peiffer (The New York Times, 24K+ viewers), Animals by Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Williamstown Theatre and Audible) and Soft Light by Aleshea Harris (The Movement Theatre). Her original musical Definition will debut at the Bushwick Starr in 2021 and her five-part cycle deconstructing Shakespeare’s women, music and female ambition is currently in development with American Repertory Theater (Boston, MA). Whitney is the current recipient of Vineyard Theatre’s Susan Stroman Directing Award, is part of the Rolex Protegé and Mentorship Arts Initiative and is an Associate Artist at The Roundabout. She is also an Associate Director at Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC. Past residencies and fellowships: Sundance Theatre Lab, Colt Coeur, The Drama League, the Roundabout and the 2050 Fellowship at the New York Theatre Workshop. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA: Northwestern University.
Tori Sampson
Tori Sampson, Playwright. A native of Boston, Tori’s plays include If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons, 2019), This Land Was Made (Vineyard Theatre, 2018), and Cadillac Crew (Yale Repertory Theater, 2019). She also wrote for Season 2 of “Hunters” on Amazon. Her plays have been developed at Great Plains Theatre Conference, Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s The Ground Floor residency program, Victory Garden’s IGNITION Festival of New Plays, Playwrights Foundation, and Ubuntu Festival. Tori is a 2017–18 Playwright’s Center Jerome Fellow and a 2018-19 McKnight Fellow. Two of her plays appeared on the 2017 Kilroys List. Her awards and honors include the 2016 Relentless Award, Honorable Mention; the 2016 Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting from The Kennedy Center; the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, Second Place; the Alliance Theater’s 2017 Kendeda Prize, Finalist; the 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Finalist; the 2018 National Theater Conferences, Paul Green Award. Tori is currently working on commissions from Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre and Atlantic Theater Company. She holds a BS in sociology from Ball State University and an MFA in playwriting from Yale School of Drama.